Scholar

It's because Leo created a purple cow.

I have had these troubles too, and you lack a realization that all your questioning isn't really questioning at all. With every question you ask, you simply construct new ideas, and you keep blindly believing them. When you say "How can I be certain that I can doubt stuff?", you are not really asking anything. The process of doubt is not a concept, just as certainty is not. By forming any question or doubt whatsoever, you have already assumed something. What is basically happening is that you are using a tool designed to inspect certain phenomena to inspect itself, which simply does not work, because as soon as you are inspecting it you have constructed something that is not it. Reason is not what you think it is, but you equate it to a thought that was created by reason. By asking these questions you are constructing a new story, a complete delusion. When you think, "Oh my god, I can't trust anything I am thinking!", you are actually trusting that very thought. You have replaced your story with one that you like less, and that is why you are suffering. You have to use the tool for what it was made for. You cannot deconstruct anything with thought, you can only reconstruct. Deconstruction happens with experience, which can be triggered by a thought, but not at all necessarily so. Instead of asking more questions, start observing what the words you use to establish the questions truly mean/truly are. You don't need to do anything but look to see how silly everything you have told yourself was. Here is a hint: There is no answer to the question of "How do I know?", I simply know.

You have to be really careful with media representation of these kinds of people, they are usually very biased and looking for clicks.

What if the map is the territory?

I think you are asking the wrong questions. God doesn't want anything, as he is the source of wanting. God doesn't create any particular game, he creates every game there can be, because there is nothing to stop him from doing so. God is nothingness, and nothingness does not feel bad about creating a world full of misery, because that would require for god to have already made himself in a way to dislike a particular thing. Nothingness doesn't want to create anything at all, it simply does, because there is nothing to stop nothingness from making everything come into existence. It is wonderful, but it is also terrible. It is every adjective you can possibly imagine and more. It is the is-ness of every idea and emotions you can feel, of everything you have every experienced and ever will. How would infinity be infinite if there was something lacking inside it? You have yet to grasp what there even is to grasp.

There is no outside the matrix outside the matrix.

How does one know whether one has a metaphysically-oriented mind and personality?

Not sure why, but I thought Coral had to do with becoming one with the emotions and states one experiences? As in becoming "anger" or "sadness", similar to what an animal might be, without any resistance of morality, but a complete immersion into reality, not as an observer or actor but simply as reality itself. So I guess instead of sitting there and appreciating the infinitude of nothingness, one would again become immersed into the being of certain aspects of reality. Kind of like a loop?

I can tell you that I would have never started consciousness work, or even self-improvement, if I never would have felt as lonely as I did a few years back. I would say loneliness and suffering can be as much a motivating force as it can be a destructive one. When I look around me though and I see "normal" people, I pity them for the fact that they will never suffer enough and be forced to be open minded enough to maybe embrace something like spirituality or self-help.

Is it still worth buying this course if one has seen Leo's video on strategic thinking? https://www.thegreatcourses.co.uk/courses/strategic-thinking-skills.html

Is it the case that the various dystopias people came up with throughout history were basically predictions of the unhealthy versions of each of the spiral stages taken to the extreme? Was it a result of an intuitive realization of the changes that were happening at that time, by the authors whose passion it was to reflect upon the motion of the zeitgeist? It seems like the dystopias were written in times when the changes were most radical, and thus most obvious to the people effected by it. Though it seems like there was always a lack of realization that there is a next step to the evolution, another stage past the stage they were currently going into, which by the model of spiral dynamics will not happen as a realization until stage yellow is reached, correct? If this is the case and dystopias are a reaction to the transitioning into new stages, then are utopias an extreme version of each stage if it was ultimately healthy and not restricted by the evolutionary force of nature? It seems like the current dystopia as a reaction to stage green is some sort of tyranny that will control language and behavior to mold society into compassion-robots who need to be careful about everything they say and do. Now my question is whether this process is useful for the stabilization of the given civilization? If there was no fear of the dystopia, would it be more likely that the dystopia would actually take place due to no resistance? It seems like any new stage is the reaction to an older stage and will naturally want to go as far away from the previous stage as it can so that it can fully propel itself into the new stage. Though the force that requires that transitions is so great that once the stage is reached it will simply continue to transition into an even more extreme version of itself, as there is nothing that stops the force. On the other hand, if there is resistance, it will take longer for the new stage to be reached, but it will not as easily spill over into the extreme. It's as if there was a pendulum and we wanted to get it from one side to the other, and the quicker we want it to get to the other side the more it will actually swing past target, and the greater will be the the fall back to the other side again. If we attached some sort of rubber mechanism that would keep it from swinging quickly, it would not overshoot but it will take longer for it to reach the other side. Is the fear and the inability to change basically like that kind of rubber mechanism just on a societal scale? And is it something that evolved and is important for survival of the civilization? Is it the civilization trying to remain in homeostasis so that it doesn't fall apart when changes are taking place? I see Leo criticizing negative reactions to individual stages, and I recognize that it is useful from an individualistic perspective, but might these reaction be something important from the perspective of the collective? Let's say there was no one resisting to stage green and a revolution would take place within a few years, would that actually be desirable? It seems to me like there needs to be a balance, so that change can take place but so that it meets just the right amount of resistance so that it doesn't go into extremes. And it seems like this mechanism is also true for the individual ego.

Does that mean that animals are enlightened?

I think he meant that taking psychedelics might make you unable to properly get to non-dual states by traditional means, in which case you will need more psychedelics to properly develop. The shortcut would "steal" emotional growth that otherwise you would have have to go through to get such an experience.

Can you see intelligence in the manifestation of reality?

Even if there is no multiverse, there are certainly multiple/infinite universes. A multiverse is different from multiple independent universes as it implies that the universes interact with each other, one multiverse containing multiple universes instead of completely separate realities. Don't conflate infinity with the properties of this particular realiy. Etven if this is not a multiverse, there still can be infinite multiverses "outside" of this particular universe. When talking about multiverses as it is referred to physics it is talking about a very specific model and interpretation of what our particular universe is and how it acts. In fact even if it is true, the multiverse would still be infinitely small compared to infinity.

Sexual Transmutation seems to be one of the best tools I have found to increase energy, motivation, focus and the ability to self-inquire, though I rarely hear Leo talking about it. Is he not convinced of it?

The wet dreams are something I am trying to counteract as well, at the moment it is going well for me though I do not know exactly why. Whenever I have sexual dreams I am able remind myself and resist it. Other than that, it seems like using your energy and transmuting it consciously can help avoid having sexual dreams. It's just something one has to figure out.

Have you ever tried it for a prolonged time, like several months, just to see what it could do for the pursuit of your life purpose?

Be careful not to repress sexual energy, it was a mistake I used to make. When you get aroused, note the feeling/energy in your body, the motivation and intense desire. Note what kind of things you would be willing to do if you actually had the opportunity to have sex, what kind of energy you would be willing to spend. Would you run a marathon to have sex with a goddess? Of course you would, in fact it would become completely effortless. If you learn to transmute this energy and focus it into different aspects of your life, imagine what you will accomplish. Just picture this: You are absolutely tired, you got 4 hours of sleep and it seems like nothing would be able to get you out of bed. Then imagine, if a willing beautiful woman would, in this state, offer you to have sex with her. What would actually happen to the energetic state of your body? Would you still be tired and unmotivated? Your mind can give you intense energy at any point in time. Your body always has that kind of energy. If it came to it and your life was under threat, you would be capable of running for the entire day up until the point of unconsciousness. The only reason why it would seem impossible to you now is because your mind does not give you the needed energy and motivation. But trust me, if someone pointed a gun at you, within seconds, you would have the energy of Hercules himself. What does that mean for you? Well, whenever you get aroused, try to notice what is happening in the body, and be conscious of the fact that you have a goal. Take that energy you feel, the arousal, and visualize how it goes through your body to fuel different aspects of it. Read up on sexual transmutation and do the transmutation each time you get triggered. Nofap will become a piece of cake. Each time you get aroused it's like a nugget of energy for free that you can transmute into whatever you want. I can literally, right now, take energy from a sexual fantasy and transmute it into my arms. It feels like a raging fire. Though be careful and don't seek out sexual content or fantasy on purpose. When it happens, notice it, transmute it and continue with your day. You have to actually notice that your arousal is intense energy, and whenever you lose it by having an orgasm (even a wet dream!) you will also lose that energy. Just realize this: Sexual energy is the reason why you are here. It is the reason for why each of your billions of ancestors have survived, reproduced and evolved into what you are today. Imagine the struggle, the amounts of suffering, adversity, death and cataclysm your ancestors had to face, and each and single one of the succeeded. All of that motivated by the same energy that is motivating you to jerk off. We are talking about a force of nature here. Look at all the animals out there, surviving each day in the wild. Look at their focus, at their relentless struggle. Look at the birds looking for food, chirping in the trees, flying across continents, feeding their young, always being on the look out for predators. That is not a simple task, and they give their absolute best every single day of their life. Now look at our civilization, look at the monumental energy it required to achieve this feat. The creative genius, the amount of mastery and dedication. All of this just because we really, really want to procreate.

I feel like my question was not really addressed. I was inquiring into what Leo thinks of the efficacy of Sexual Transmutation.

I am not bullying you, maybe you should do some nofap so you stop being so emotionally sensitive? The reason why I asked whether you read it or not is the following: This is super important, because the same argument is used by Cholesterol deniers, when they claim that people who have low cholesterol actually are unhealthy because there is a correlation between low cholesterol and death. Well, it happens to be the case that if you happen to be sick, your cholesterol is lowered. And it might very well be the case that if you have prostate cancer, your libido might be lowered. This is why correlation does not equal causation. Look, to me it's very clear that you do not really do your research and are just here to bash on something you do not understand or do not find appealing. None of the links you have presented give us even one good argument for why Nofap would be a placebo. You keep making health claims on this forum without backing it up whatsoever. You still have to provide evidence for 45% increase in serum testosterone to be non-significant, but of course you will not. https://www.yourbrainonporn.com/ There is not a lot of research done on the long term effects of abstaining from sexual activity (there is on porn, however), and it is very hard to find study participants who would be willing to take part in such a study. Either way, if you want to be rational you should adopt a position of agnosticism on this topic, but I can see you have invested far too much emotion in your position. In the end it does not even matter whether it is placebo or not, because it is absolutely life-changing. Not a single piece of advice I got from Leo benefited me even remotely as much as the practice of Nofap, and that is saying a lot.

Have you actually read the article yourself? Can you provide proof for the claim that we do not get anything significant out of nofap? You are basically throwing around baseless claims, how do you know that the regulation of receptors makes increases in testosterone from abstaining from orgasm insignificant? By the way, from a perspective of someone who does do nofap everything you say seems laughable anyways because we ourselves directly experience all the benefits, though I think it's beneficial to expose reactionary positions like yours to people in this forum. You are acting like an atheist trying to disprove non-duality. Just read what you have quoted from quora, there is not a single sound argument in that entire paragraph. It's all basically "It cannot be true because I don't understand how it could be true!".

45% increase in serum testosterone is non-significant? Can you provide evidence for a causation between masturbation and reduced risk of prostate cancer? What makes you think the Nofap movement is a placebo effect, and why do you think testosterone is the only significant change that takes place when abstaining from pornography and masturbation?

Actually the Rogan podcast was filled with misinformation and incompetence from both sides: 7 hours of free schooling and explanations, very interesting to actually get to understand where these people make mistakes or are simply incompetent.

I can only say it again, people just do not see the depth of the problem. Everything I experience is such radically my subjective experience that even the notion of subjective experience falls apart. Even the notion and sense of reality itself is something "subjective". The reason you do not agree with everything is consciousness is because are deeply confused about what everything actually is. Everything is a notion, just as any other notion you can come up with, happening in the mind/consciousness. If you were to see this problem you would realize how much deep of an epistemic riddle this is. This is so deep that even epistemicness itself falls apart, literally everything does, including the questioning of this problem itself. That which you call world cannot be the world, and that which you call outside cannot be outside. Question what outsidedness and worldness even are. It is very interesting to observe how minds play around with the idea that all they experience is their own mind, but it always happens as if in a quarantined realm where they actually do not truly apply it to all they experience, but instead apply this idea only to the intellectual realm. You do not actually see that everything you experience and can possibly experience is your own mind, and once you realize that, truly, you will see how completely absurd your assumptions about "reality" were.